Hueso, Gonzalez possible targets of recall effort

SACRAMENTO  Gun-rights activists made a big splash in late October by announcing their intention to launch recall campaigns against several California lawmakers within a couple of weeks. including San Diego Democrats Ben Hueso and Lorena Gonzalez.

Nearly a month has passed, yet no papers have been filed and the boasting has quieted.

The delay should not be interpreted as a retreat, said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California and a recall campaign leader. Potential targets and timing are still being analyzed.

“I know we will be able to come to intelligent decisions before the year is out,” said Paredes.

But the campaign has run into some obstacles. Sen. Hueso and Assemblywoman Gonzalez won their special elections by wide margins in districts dominated by Democrats. The timing and recall rules also are not in the proponents’ favor, Paredes conceded.

Paredes teamed with Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Twin Peaks Republican who is also running for governor, to explore recall avenues after lawmakers passed about 20 gun control bills, of which a dozen were signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Probably the biggest was a bill to ban the sale of lead ammunition for hunting starting in 2019. Brown vetoed another hotly contested measure that would have prohibited the sale, manufacturer or import of semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines.

The goal of the effort, Paredes said, is to send a signal to lawmakers that they should not tamper with the Second Amendment’s gun ownership protections or face the consequences along the lines of two recently recalled state senators in Colorado. He expects the Democratic-dominated Legislature to pursue gun control bills when it reconvenes in January.

The Oct. 24 recall announcement came under immediate attack for singling out Latino lawmakers. Critics suggested race was as much in play as policy, backed up by Donnelly’s long association with the anti-illegal immigration “Minuteman Project” movement patrolling the borders, It’s a charge Donnelly and Paredes have denied but are unable to shake.

“If they want to send down the Tea Party and Minutemen to talk about the issue of gun violence we would have interesting discussions,” said Assemblywoman Gonzalez, convinced voters of her district are in her corner, weary of gun violence.

“I am not backing off,” she added.

Gonzalez and Hueso are still possible targets, Paredes said.

“They are definitely districts that are being looked at, but we are not leaning toward them,” Paredes said.

One reason they may be targeted: both lawmakers took office after winning special elections earlier this year with dismal turnout, lowering the threshold for signatures. Recall supporters must collect signatures equal to 20 percent of the votes case in the past election. Organizers would need 5,092 signatures on petitions to put Gonzalez’s future on the ballot and 11,072 for Hueso.

But other recall rules pose hurdles to victory, Paredes said.

For example, the state requires those who gather signatures for a recall to be registered to vote within the district represented by the sitting legislator being targeted. That makes it more difficult to send in motivated signature gatherers from elsewhere.